MU 710: Understanding Opera - Spring 2013 - Selected Handouts
MU 710
Student Presentations I
Feb. 5 - 7
Description: a short presentation on phrase rhythm or metric issues in early opera.
Instructions:
• Choose an aria or short scene from an opera that was written before 1750. It should be no more than 5 minutes
long.
• Read an English translation of the text for the piece, as well as the libretto of the opera from which it is taken, so
that you have a clear idea of the dramatic situation and character involved.
• Analyze the phrase structure, and metric/rhythmic elements of the piece. Make a formal diagram, which should
be helpful in understanding the phrase structure.
• Some of the rhythmic/metric/phrase characteristics will be employed for illustrative reasons, and some perhaps
for organizational ones. Decide which characteristics serve which functions.
• For your presentation, bring to class the following: a recording of the selection, at least 6 photocopies of the
score, an English translation of the text, and copies of your formal diagram. (If you prefer to perform your
selection, make sure you have all you need to do so.) Make sure your score has measure numbers and any
annotations that you feel are necessary to understanding your points.
• During your presentation, you will play the selection, and discuss the illustrative and organizational uses of its
rhythmic/metric/phrase characteristics. You should utilize the terminology we have discussed in class: metric
consonance/dissonance, and Rothstein’s terms.
• The total time should be 10-12 minutes.
Illustrative (I) and Organizational (O) Functions in Opera
I-function - any illustrative task performed by an element of the opera (music, drama, text). Example: the presentation
of verbal or textual content.
O-function - any organizational task performed by an element of the opera (music, drama, text). Example: defining of
a structural unit.
operatic music’s illustrative (IM) functions:
1.presentation of atmosphere or mood
2. presentation of local or historical color
3. presentation of emotional content and character
4.presentation of physical stage action
5.presentation of verbal and textual content (including stage directions)
6.presentation and/or identification of characters, objects, events or thematic ideas.
operatic music’s organizational (OM) functions:
1. framing
2. defining structural units of the opera by musical means
3. continuity (avoiding or obscuring musical units)
4. creating musical syntax
5. creating musical unity
M-tool - any musical tool, which can be used to carry out either I-functions or
O-functions. Examples: articulation, cadences (or lack thereof), consonance vs. dissonance, counterpoint, dynamics, form, genre,
harmony, harmonic syntax, hypermeter, instrumentation, melodic direction, meter, mode, motion to remote/related keys, motivic
materials, register, rhythm, scales (diatonic, chromatic, other collections), style, tempo, texture.
IM-tool - any musical tool used to carry out illustrative tasks. Example: in “Voi che sapete” from Le Nozze di Figaro,
Mozart uses various musical tools to illustrate the dramatic situation (i.e., Cherubino is singing a song). One of these
musical tools is instrumentation: pizzicato strings imitate the sound of the guitar that Susanna is supposed to be
plucking as “accompaniment” onstage. Therefore, instrumentation is an illustrative musical (IM) tool.
OM-tool—any musical tool used to carry out organizational tasks. Example: in “Voi che sapete” an ABA’ form is
utilized to organize the operatic number.
ID-tools- any dramatic tool used to carry out illustrative tasks. Example: stage properties. Susanna’s onstage guitar
indicates that she is accompanying Cherubino’s song.
OD-tool—any dramatic tool used to carry out organizational tasks. Example: recurrence (a dramatic repetition that
satisfies expectancy). Cherubino has given Susanna a copy of his song earlier in the opera, so the audience knows of
its existence. When that song is finally performed, it constitutes a recurrence, satisfying expectancy.
Querelle des Bouffons
• In 1752, an Italian opera company, led by impresario Eustachio Bambini, was invited to perform at the Paris
Opéra. They performed Pergolesi’s La Serva Padrona on the same evening that the regular company performed
Lully’s Acis et Galatée. It sparked a controversy in which over 60 letters and pamphlets were written. Some of them
were:
• anonymous, possibly Diderot: 1753, in pamplet the author compares analogous scenes from a French and Italian
opera: Lully’s Armide and Terradella’s Nitocris. Point of view: Armide’s monologue cannot compare with the Italian,
having a melody without fire, soul, force or inspiration.
• Jean-Jacques Rousseau: 1753, philosopher who also wrote music articles for the Encyclopédie in 1748, and
composed the successful French comic opera Le Devin du village. Point of view: melody is the most crucial part of
music, there should be one clear melody not counterpoint; in comparing French and Italian music, recitative should
be a musical imitation of speech; since Lully’s recitative is in French, it is lacking in melodic and rhythmic interest;
Lully’s recitative does not reflect the text, and has neither melody, naturalness or expression. Conclusion: the
French do not have music.
• Jean-Phillipe Rameau: 1754, composer and music theorist (he invented the concepts of tonic, dominant and
subdominant) Point of view: harmony is the sole basis for music, since melody has its source in harmony; associates
joy with dominant, sharp keys, major mode, rising melody because they are produced as overtones, while associates
sadness with the subdominant, flat keys, minor mode, descending melody. In the Lully recitative, the contrasts of
major and minor, and chord changes correspond perfectly with the text. The recitative is a perfect example of
modulation since there are cadences in all keys. He also discusses “implied dissonance” in modulations, where a
chord’s identity is reinterpreted in the next progression.
• Lully, Armide Act II, scene 5: “Enfin, il est en ma puissance”
[Armide stands over Renaud, whom her demons have lulled to sleep, with a dagger in her hand, but is overcome by
love for him and cannot kill him.]
Enfin, il est en ma puissance, Ce fatal ennemi, ce At last, he is in my power, This deadly enemy, this
superbe vainqueur.
arrogant conqueror.
Le charme du sommeil le livre à ma vengeance;
The charm of sleep delivers him to my revenge. I will
Je vais percer son invincible coeur.
pierce his invincible heart.
Par lui, tous mes captifs sont sortis d’esclavage,
Through him, all my captives have escaped from
Qu’il éprouve toute ma rage...
slavery, Let him feel all my rage.
Quel trouble me saisit? qui me fait hésitet?
What disturbance seizes me? what makes me hesitate?
Qu’est-ce qu’en sa faveur la pitié me veut dire?
What, in his favor, can pity say to me?
Frappons...Ciel! qui peut m’arrêter? Achevons..je Let me strike him...Heavens! what could be stopping
frémis! Vengeons-nous ...je soupire!
me? Finish it!...I tremble! Let us take revenge...I sigh!
Venez, secondez mes désirs, Démons,
Come, do as I wish, Demons, transform yourselves
transformez-vous en d’aimables zéphirs.
into pleasant breezes.
Je cède à ce vainqueur, la pitié me surmonte;
I surrender to this conqueror, pity overcomes me;
Cachez ma faiblesse et ma honte Dans les plus
Hide my weakness and my disgrace in the most
reculés déserts; Volez, coduisez-nous au bout de faraway deserts; Fly, lead us to the ends of the world.
l’univers.
Lully, Armide, “Enfin, il est en ma puissance,” first phrase
Lully, Armide, “Enfin, il est en ma puissance,” mm. 18-22
1. as written
2. Rameau’s analysis
Dramatic Action in Le Nozze di Figaro
Action
Act I
1. Figaro, on knees, measures new bedroom while
Susanna tries on bridal hat. Susanna explains that
the Count desires her and that the room would give
him easy access.
2. Figaro, jealous, challenges the Count, saying that
if the Count wants to dance, Figaro will call the
tune.
3. Marcellina and Bartolo enter, plan to disrupt
wedding using a contract Figaro signed promising
to marry Marcellina in lieu of debt repayment;
Bartolo wants revenge for Figaro’s previous help in
preventing him from marrying the Countess, then
exits.
4. Susanna enters, and is insulted by Marcellina. As
they both try to exit the door, they curtsey politely
but exchange veiled insults in the process.
Marcellina exits.
5. Cherubino enters, breathlessly telling how the
Count discovered him in Barbarina’s room; all he
can think of is love and steals the Countess’ ribbon.
As he is about to leave, the Count enters and he
hides behind a chair.
6. The Count pursues Susanna amorously until
Basilio is heard coming; the Count moves to hide
behind the chair, forcing Cherubino to hide in the
chair, which Susanna covers with a dress.
7. Basilio enters, asking for the Count, and makes
insinuations about Cherubino with the Countess
and Susanna. The Count, now jealous, leaps out of
his hiding place, and orders Cherubino evicted
from the castle. Susanna faints and they carry her
towards the chair; she recovers just in time and
Basilio apologies forwhat he said about Cherubino.
But the Count insists that the page must go,
because he has been caught before with Barbarina;
the Count then demonstrates how he had lifted
Barbarina’s tablecloth—while lifting the dress on
the chair—to discover Cherubino, who is present
on the chair as well! The Count realizes that
Cherubino has heard all the intrigue.
8. A group of peasants, led by Figaro, enter to
praise the Count’s renunciation of the droit de
seigneur. Figaro wants the wedding to be held
there and then. The Count delays, saying that
preparations must be made. Cherubino will be sent
off to war, and Figaro describes how life will now
be different for him.
Act II
1. The Countess, begging for relief from grief,
prays for Amor to help her, either to give her back
Substitutions
1. Figaro, here seen on his knees in a typical
servant’s pose, will trade places with the Count,
who will be on his knees at the end of the
opera.
2. Figaro usurps role of master, using music
appropriate to the Count, a minuet.
3. Marcellina wants to substitute for Susanna as
Figaro’s bride
4. Trying to substitute for each other as
Figaro’s wife—and at the door—Susanna and
Marcellina take turns with the musical material
as well.
5. and 6. The Count, having earlier substituted
for Cherubino in Barbarina’s room, now takes
the page’s place behind the chair.
7. When Cherubino is discovered in the chair,
he is actually substituting for himself at another
location and time in the Count’s story.
8. The Count is being applauded for abolishing
the droit de seigneur, when in actuality he is
trying to reinstate it. Figaro and the peasants
are, in effect, praising the man the Count
should be, not who the Count really is.
Cherubino is made to take on the persona of a
soldier.
her husband or to let her die.
2. Susanna enters and recounts the events of that
morning. Figaro enters with a plan: he gave an
anonymous letter to Basilio saying the Countess
will meet a lover that night; then the Count will get
so jealous that he will forget about Susanna until it
is too late. Susanna is to promise to meet the
Count in the garden, while Cherubino will go
dressed as her instead, when they will be surprised
by the Countess and shamed.
3. Cherubino enters and sings the song he wrote
for the Countess. Locking the door, Cherubino
begins to undress.
4. The Count, jealous, is heard outside asking why
the door is locked. Cherubino hides in the closet.
5. The Countess says the door was locked because
Susanna was trying on dresses, and she is now in
the closet.
6. Susanna enters through another door, hides in
the alcove and hears the argument. The Count
decides to go get tools, to break down the door; he
leaves with the Countess and locks the door.
7. Susanna opens the closet, lets Cherubino out,
and he jumps out the window to escape. She
enters the closet.
8. The Count and Countess return with the tools,
and the Countess confesses that Cherubino was in
the closet, infuriating the Count.
9. When the door opens, it is Susanna not the page,
leaving everyone dumbfounded. The Count begs
forgiveness of the Countess, which is given.
10. Figaro enters, is accused by the Count of lying
about the letter, but he just wants the wedding to
begin.
11. The gardner Antonio rushes in with flowerpots
broken by someone jumping from the window.
The Count is suspicious again, but Figaro claims
that he jumped.
12. Marcellina, Bartolo, and Basilio enter with the
marriage contract; imbroglio.
Act III
1. The Count ponders the situation.
2. The Countess and Susanna enter unseen by the
Count and plot for Susanna to arrange a rendezvous with the Count in the garden that evening.
The Countess will go in her place. The Count
accepts joyfully.
3. Figaro enters and Susanna says their case is
already won.
4. The Count, overhearing them, realizes a trap is
afoot. He will not be outwitted by a servant.
5. Don Curzio, Marcellina, Figaro and Bartolo
enter after the case has been tried: Figaro must pay
2. The plan is for Cherubino to substitute for
Susanna.
3. Cherubino (a woman playing a man) is now
being dressed as a woman: a double
substitution.
4.-9. Who is in the closet? Cherubino and
Susanna substitute for each other.
10.-11. Figaro substitutes for Cherubino as the
one who jumped from the window.
12. Again, Marcellina wants to substitute for
Susanna as Figaro’s bride.
2. The Countess will substitute for Susanna.
5. Figaro is now really Raffaello, Marcellina is
no longer the bride but the mother of the
groom, with Bartolo as his father and not his
enemy. All have traded identities.
Marcellina or marry her. Figaro refuses to marry
her without the consent of his parents, whom he
does not know: he was a foundling and has a
distinguishing mark on his arm. Marcellina cries
out that he is really Raffaello, the son of Bartolo
and herself! Since Figaro cannot marry his own
mother, the case is dropped. Susanna enters with
money to pay Marcellina, sees Figaro embracing
the older woman and is furious: all is explained to
her.
6. Marcellina and Bartolo decide to marry. All
leave rejoicing.
7. Barbarina takes Cherubino out of harm’s way
and dresses him as a girl to join her friends as they
present flowers to the Countess.
8. The Countess laments the passing of happier
times, but is hopeful that things will improve. She
is now taking things into her own hands, and exits.
9. Antonio tells the Count that Cherubino will be
dressed as a girl.
10. The Countess and Susanna write a letter to the
Count arranging an assignation. They seal the letter
with a pin, which the Count should return.
11. Barbarina and the girls enter (including the
disguised Cherubino) bringing flowers. The
Countess seems to recognize him.
12. Cherubino is discovered by the Count and
Antonio. The Count is furious, but Barbarina
reminds him of the promise he made to her, while
kissing her, that he would give her anything. She
asks to marry Cherubino.
13. Figaro enters wanting the wedding festivities to
begin, and orders the march to start. The Count
and Countess sit to receive the couples.
14. The wedding procession enters, the chorus
praising the Count again for having renounced the
droit de seigneur. They dance a fandango, during
which Susanna passes the letter to the Count, who
pricks his finger on the pin. Figaro notices that the
Count has gotten a love letter. The Count orders
nuptial celebrations for that evening.
Act IV
1. Barbarina enters, searching for the lost pin she
was to bring back to Susanna.
2. Figaro and Marcellina enter, and help her find
the pin.
3. Figaro is miserable that Susanna would meet the
Count on her wedding night after all. Marcellina
tells him to be cautious, but he gets in a jealous
rage.
4. Marcellina decides to warn Susanna.
5. Barbarina enters, waiting for Cherubino. She
hears someone coming and hides.
7., 9., 11., 12. Cherubino is a girl/boy/girl/boy.
10. The letter is written by the Countess
pretending to be Susanna, for an assignation in
which she will play that part. The two women’s
musical parts are repeatedly interchanged.
13. Figaro is in control of the activities while
the Count is reduced to following his orders.
14. The “new” Count (who wants to restore
the droit de seigneur) is temporarily replaced by
the good “old” Count who abolished it.
6. Figaro enters where Cherubino was
expected.
6. Figaro enters, then Bartolo, Basilio and others
appear, asking what is happening. Figaro tells them
to hide and wait.
7. Basilio explains the situation to Bartolo, with a
warning about tricking one’s master. They exit.
8. Figaro is waiting to discover his wife’s infidelity,
and rages against the fickleness of women.
9. The Countess and Susanna, dressed as each
other, enter with Marcellina.
10. Marcellina and the Countess hide, while
Susanna sings to her “lover” while knowing that
Figaro is listening.
11. Cherubino enters, and sees “Susanna” who is
really the Countess, whom he tries to seduce. The
Count appears and gets kissed by Cherubino in
Susanna’s place. Cherubino flees, but Figaro
comes closer and receives a slap the Count
intended for Cherubino. The Count offers
“Susanna” money and a ring and attempts to lead
her away, but Figaro enters and they flee separately.
Susanna enters as the Countess, even imitating her
voice; in an unguarded moment, Figaro recognizes
her real voice and pretends to woo the “Countess”.
Susanna is furious and hits him, but he explains the
truth. The Count re-enters, and Figaro and the
“Countess” make love loudly to get him jealous.
12. The Count calls for assistance; Susanna flees,
Antonio, Basilio and others enter with torches.
The Count accuses Figaro of seducing his wife and
goes to the pavilion to pull her out. Instead of the
Countess, he finds Cherubino, Barbarina,
Marcellina and Susanna as the”Countess,” who
begs his forgiveness, which is not given. The real
Countess then emerges. The Count sinks to his
knees asking forgiveness, and she pardons him.
Everyone exits to enjoy the wedding festivities.
9. The Countess and Susanna substitute for
each other, wearing each others’ clothing and
imitating each others’ voices.
11.The Count, not Susanna, gets Cherubino’s
kiss, and Figaro gets the Count’s slap meant for
Cherubino. Figaro pretends to be the
Countess’ lover.
12. In place of his wife in the pavilion, out
come four others: Cherubino, Barbarina,
Marcellina and Susanna. The Count sinks to
his knees in forgiveness, substituting for
Figaro’s kneeling position at the beginning of
the opera.
MU 710
Student Presentations II
February 26-28
Description: a short joint presentation on sonata forms in Classical period opera.
Instructions:
• With a partner, choose an aria or short scene from Mozart’s Idomeneo or other approved Classical period opera. It
should be no more than 5 minutes long.
• Determine the dramatic situation and character(s) involved.
• Choose one of the following readings, all of which are on Blackboard/Course Documents:
1) Adolf Marx, from The Theory of Musical Composition, in Strunk’s Source Readings, vol. 6, ed. Ruth Solie, pages
181-189. [Marx, writing in 1868, he was one of the most influential theorists of the 19th century, and he
named and codified sonata form.]
2) Carl Czerny, from School of Practical Composition, on Sonata Form. [Writing in 1848, Czerny, student of
Beethoven and teacher of Liszt, this treatise discusses formal models for young composers.]
2) Heinrich Christoph Koch, from Introductory Essay on Composition, in Strunk’s Source Readings, vol. 5, ed. Wye
Allanbrook, pages 73-79. [Writing in 1793, Koch describes sonata form in the symphony and the sonata,
with an interesting emphasis on expression. Focus on section regarding the Allegro of symphonies, §101,
§102, and §103.]
4) “Francesco Galeazzi’s Description (1796) of Sonata Form” by Bathia Churgin, Journal of the American
Musicological Society, Vol. 21, No. 2 (Summer, 1968), pp. 181 -199. [Writing in 1796, contemporary with
Beethoven, Galeazzi is the first known writer to describe sonata form in a thematic, rather than structural
way.]
5) Warren Darcy and James Hepokoski, “The medial caesura and its role in the eighteenth-century sonata
exposition,” Music Theory Spectrum, pages 115-154. [This describes a formal moment in sonata expositions.]
• Compare the description of sonata form in your reading to your selected aria or short scene. To what extent does
the described sonata form fit the music?
• For your presentation, bring to class the following: a recording of the selection, at least 6 photocopies of the
score, and an English translation of the text. (If you prefer to perform your selection, make sure you have all you
need to do so.) Make sure your score has measure numbers and any annotations that you feel are necessary to
understanding your points.
• During your presentation, you and your partner can divide the presentation as you wish: for example, one person
could discuss the reading, while the other talks about the application to the aria; or these topics could be shared.
• The total time should be 15 minutes.